I'd love to have a Linux based tablet computer for the same reasons that I have both Msc and Linix machines at home. That would be to leverage the strengths of each platform.

Android is NOT an open system from the user standpoint. Never has been and never will be.
It

There is nothing to indicate that Android is a viable tablet OS. Proof is in the pudding and frankly Android will have significant competition. To truely be competitive against Apple one needs to have infrastructure and vision. There is potential for a big plauer to find the right leader to realize a competitive environment but right now there isn't a serious player.

As far as a serious play goes, right now I think WebOS has more potential. Not because of technical superiorty but do to and organization with a vision.

All these guys claiming that they will beat up on iPad need to realize that Apple will have rev two out before they even debut. In otherwords they have no idea what they will be competeing with.

Speaking of competeing I have this feeling that no one in the industry understands the importance of FaceTime. This in and of itself will sell lots of iOS devices. Which highlights another important consideration, it isn't simply a matter of having software but having the right software. Apple balances that really well offering key pieces of supported functionality. This is extremely important for many consummers.

Even now you can't look at iPad as a single device. That will be even less of a case if a 5-7 inch device arrives.

On top of the 5-7 inch device Apple could be playing with other devices in the market. The rumored iOS based iTV for one. But i could also see a iTV tablet, that is a tablet optimized for HDTV woth an over the air reciever. In otherwirds Apples first TV might be a very portable device instead of a wall hanging panel. Wall hanging panels are a possibility too, just that entry into the small screen areba would be a snap for Apple.

Some have also indicated that Apple could deliver a gaming platform. It is possible but i think they would simply tweak the smaller machines to better support gaming.

Those are a bunch of points but I think the important thing here is that it really isn't the hardware they have to compete with. The most obvious thing being that the current hardware won't be around when the are actually in the market. Even at that Apple is offering up much more than hardware.

Dave

Good points, all!

Maybe not this rev or model, but before long they will have a $199 16 GB WiFi only version of the iPad.

When this happens, you will have these wall-mounted (Valcro) in the kitchen, Nursery, Shop, etc.

I guess there is really a reason that Microsoft is copying the business model. You of course are welcome to your delusion. Pitiful reasoning considering the profits Apple is making. Pure delusion.

d

No delusion. I could drive to the closest dedicated Apple retailer, and it will be empty, just as it always is. And the last time I was at a real Apple shop, the majority of people were browsing websites. If I purchase Apple products the majority of the time I will use the online store.

The SendMe answered the original poster's question of "who is Acer", succinctly, and to the point. Did he include all possible relevant information about Acer? No, but why change the topic of the answer.

SendMe is a ClickTroll.

He will post whatever is flowing through his mind at the moment-- kind of a mental diarrhea!

No possibility of reasonable discussion (or even unreasonable discussion).

.

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

This is Apple vs PC all over again. A Dell will soon emerge, and the only thing the Android manufacturers will be able to compete on is price.

If anyone needs the history lesson, the combo that won the desktop was 1 ) cheap commodity hardware, 2) Windows 3.1, and 3) DOOM.
Dishonorable mention goes to Windows 95 and IE...

No. what won the desktop for Windows was the overwhelming need for a single standard set of document file types for everyone, business and consumer, to use. today converting files from one software format to another is trivial. but in the 90's it was practically impossible. word processing and spreadsheet file types were unreaable across different platforms and software (e.g. Word Perfect vs. Office vs. Lotus, etc.). i know. i was there. had to standarize my office on Windows/Office for exactly this reason, no other. simply so we could exchange files with anyone else and work on them. then MS built on this advantage with Exchange and so on, which also could not be avoided until about 5 years ago.

but that era is OVER. sorry, wrong history lesson.

but you are right the Android OEM's are in a pricing race to the bottom, just like PC's. the telcos however are trying to re-establish their pre-iPhone consumer manipulation practices. and Google don't give a sh*t as long as it's all covered with ads.

iOS is clearly the standard. Android is clearly a copy of that standard. In the end, that will matter the most.

I don't think a standard has been set yet. I just read an article (I believe at MacWorld) stating that 85% of iPod owners already own an Apple product. The smartphone market is still growing, and is predicted to explode in the next few years. Even though Apple makes more money than other vendors, BlackBerry still outsells them (although that percentage is slipping), and Android, for better or worse, is gaining marketshare. Both of which suggests that iOS is not the standard for smart phones Apple gets a lot of deserved press, and the user experience is smooth and consistent and enjoyable. However, things are just getting started and there is still a ways to go.

while i have no interest in buying this stuff, you've left off some decent tablets:
Exo PC, Slate, ink adam, ICD Ultra...
while the tech specs may say they're better than the iPad and the prices are lower, i'm NOT saying they're better, i'm saying that i don't think they will fail.

And that's a bad? Because it's utilizing the extra space that it gets in landscape mode? Oh. And BTW, my iPod Touch running iOS 4 does exactly the same.

On my Vibrant, when I switch to landscape mode, it uses the extra width to display more text, which is perfect since that's the reason why I turned it sideways in the first place. On the iPhone, it increases the font size. ...Remarkable.

So giving away stuff for free makes for good customer service? Sounds great to me. How can I get in on this free stuff? When I walk into the Apple store I get a really good price. FULL PRICE.

And how am I throwing oil and sand in your face? By telling the truth the way it is? No one here has refuted one of my points. All you do is cry like fanboys cause I picked on your leader. I call em as I see em. Deal with it. Jobs is not a Jedi master. He is a CEO and he is supposed to be making great products for his users, not telling them what the can and cannot do with his walled garden OS.

Did I make it clear enough for you? Or do you want to have another piece of Apple pie and live in the glass house?

You haven't made a point. You said iOS is controlled by Jobs and your evidence was some rant about rappers and shoes and AMERICANS SUCK(!!!) and some unrelated story about Jobs not getting a seat at a restaurant. If you'd like to make a point then we can debate.

So giving away stuff for free makes for good customer service? Sounds great to me. How can I get in on this free stuff? When I walk into the Apple store I get a really good price. FULL PRICE.

And how am I throwing oil and sand in your face? By telling the truth the way it is? No one here has refuted one of my points. All you do is cry like fanboys cause I picked on your leader. I call em as I see em. Deal with it. Jobs is not a Jedi master. He is a CEO and he is supposed to be making great products for his users, not telling them what the can and cannot do with his walled garden OS.

Did I make it clear enough for you? Or do you want to have another piece of Apple pie and live in the glass house?

They are the second-largest computer company in the world. Their unit shipments dwarf those of Apple.

But all we care about is Apple, so it is easy to miss what is going on in the world around us.

Uh, they ship a lot of cheap instant eWaste.

I wouldn't be so proud of the Android market, where Buy One Get One Free offers push their market share, but tank their profits.

BTW, why are people looking for Apple to push more units out the door when they have problems meeting *current* demand?

I'm not sure Android buyers are very sharp. Listened to one fellow who gave up on his iPhone waiting for AT&T to fix the reception in his apartment. I wonder if he ever *told* AT&T about his reception problems. To seal the deal, he's probably an officer in S.N.A.F.U. (an anti-mobile phone antenna NGO), too...

This 20% marketshare theory doesn't make any sense. Apple is a vicious competitor and will out-maneuver any competitor.

If marketshare begins to slide Apple has lots of quick solutions they can make for that problem (cut prices, add features, support more networks) that will re-apply the pressure on competitors.

And where will all of these competitors get the components. Apple has faced component supply bottlenecks on the iPhone and many of the iPhone wannabes cant ramp rapidly because of component limits - unless they use the low end stuff that is easily ramped. As I recall Apple locked up a land of memory chips.

I don't understand why the competitions wants to ramp market share with a low qulaity product just to make a 5-10% margin which will shrink over time as every Tom Dick and Harry builds an iPad wannabe using Android. There is a market at the low end - for sale through Toys R Us for the K-2 age crowd, so they don't screw up Daddy's iPad.

why you hate apple so much and need to throw oil and sand in our eyes daily is beyond me.

Answer:

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucep

steve our master gave us at least 5 miracle products
with one fantastic lean mean SW os to tie them all together.

When you call a dude you buy stuff from your "master" and say that he "gave" you "miracle products," you scare the hell out of people. Normal folks buy the computer they think will work the best at the best price, not the one they think will save their souls.

Corporations realize that other corps often act like brutal amoral pricks, so vendor lock-in can be an issue.

Just how is it limiting. If a business is developing apps for in-house use only, the business distributes them separately.

It seems fair to me. If the app is for in-house business use only, i.e. to be used by one single business only, then it's fair to let them distribute it separately. If the app is publicly available and the developer can make money off of consumers, then there should be some standard of quality control.

JT Wang, chairman of Acer, spoke with the Economic Daily News and shared his prediction that the market share of the iPad will drop from 100 percent to between 20 percent and 30 percent.

We will see, we will see.

Mind you, Apple could drop to 30 percent and still be number one in terms of percent of market, thanks to the vast number of companies out there (assuming they all actually do release a tablet as they say they will). All they need is for no other single company to hold 30% or more of the share. Which, given the number of potential competitors seems pretty likely. And under those circumstances I would say that retaining 30% is actually not too shabby

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlanganki

This 20% marketshare theory doesn't make any sense. Apple is a vicious competitor and will out-maneuver any competitor.

Actually they are not as vicious as you seem to think. If they were they would have dropped hardware prices a long time ago, they would have put blu-ray in their computers, they would have bought out the ATT contract so they could at least put it on T-Mobile also (if not also release a CDMA phone), etc

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffroDH

And the iOS SDK is free...

Not exactly. Eventually you have to pay them to be able to release anything. At least if you want to do it 'by the book'

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackintosh

Instead of doing what you want on your device like flash or porn, you do what the CEO of some company wants you to do.

95-98% of the ipad/iphone/ipod touch buyers are fine with it. Thus the high sales. Only the super geeks actually care and in the end it it mainly only because someone told them no and they don't like being told no.

Oh and that "Apple Tax" you are spew about. Folks don't mind paying it because they understand what they are getting for their tax dollars. They understand the value of the software that is included, the free workshops, the free tech support appointments and in some cases very pricey repairs. You certainly won't find Best Buy offering to fully examine your computer for free to figure out what is wrong. Same for phones, PMPs etc

Quote:

remember the story where Jobs walks out of a restaurant cause he can't get a table?

Well one would have to be a bit of a moron to hang around a restaurant where he can't get a table. Thus why he walked out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neondiet

Competition is good, well for us users anyway. Left to their own devices Apple will not pay much attention to some features that we users would benefit from the most,

Thing is that folks hanging out on sites like this are the type of geeks that make up a small group of the buyers. So that group of 'we users' might want features that the much much bigger group of 'we users' really don't care about. And that bigger group are the buyers that Apple is looking for. Remember this is a business, not Art.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfanning

I think the free wi-fi, and free internet access has more to do with the number of people in the stores. Go look at the Apple section of a reseller, they are empty the majority of the time.

Actually you'll find that in most stores, very few folks are camping for free access. As for the outside resellers, a fair number of them are idiots about Apple stuff, which is why they are empty. Or they aren't as up to date on the newest stuff like the Apple stores are

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum

but before long they will have a $199 16 GB WiFi only version of the iPad.

No they won't. Probably won't ever go below $499 except with education etc discounts (if they ever decide to do those. Rumor has it not even their employees get a discount on the ipad)

What they will do is just keep adding to the specs. So eventually you might have a $499 128 GB wifi with 3g with a processor that is 4 times the current and 4 times the ram in the current models.

Actually you'll find that in most stores, very few folks are camping for free access. As for the outside resellers, a fair number of them are idiots about Apple stuff, which is why they are empty. Or they aren't as up to date on the newest stuff like the Apple stores are

So what you are saying is, that in a country with zero Apple stores, all the stores that sell Apple stuff are idiots? Maybe you should notify Apple of this issue so they can solve this issue at once!!!

Take it easy on Acer. They fulfill a need in the market place. Not everyone can afford the Apple Tax.

*hands Blackintosh a zune*

Some of these companies may have been working on competing products before the ipad was available in stores, but apple had an existing OS driven by several mobile phone generations of development as well as the app store already in place. Building something that can functionally compete with that kind of lead takes time. Also you don't state any information in Acer's pricing structure. It seems like apple's biggest "tax" has been on lower volume products and accessories such as mini display port to dual dvi adapters. Some of the stuff they manufacture is really competitive for the quality when compared to the competition.

Apple stopped caring about marketshare a long time ago. They measure success by profit.

Ah yes, whatever happened to that Underdog that actually listed to it's users?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Booga

Yes, because Windows and iPod were SO open compared to Linux. Why doesn't Linux run on every desktop in the world? Because consumers don't care about openness. They want value, utility, and entertainment. Android is looking like it will be a reasonable contender, but nothing is inevitable.

Oh yes and people do care about value, utility, and entertainment. No doubt. However, when Dell did a survey for what people wanted on their systems, they said "Linux." Then Dell gave them Linux.

I hate rebates, but that is how rebates work. You pay for something upfront, then send the request for the money back. Some stores like Best Buy invoke instant rebates, but that just means they will be the ones requesting the funds from the company. You're still getting an iPod for free in the long run, so what's the issue?

The solution to this problem would be to outlaw use of the word 'free' in conjunction with the phrase "after rebate". After all, if you have to apply for a rebate, you don't have the money for the time it takes you to get it, so it's not really free, even after the rebate, assuming you actually get it.

You haven't made a point. You said iOS is controlled by Jobs and your evidence was some rant about rappers and shoes and AMERICANS SUCK(!!!) and some unrelated story about Jobs not getting a seat at a restaurant. If you'd like to make a point then we can debate.

I'm not sure Android buyers are very sharp. Listened to one fellow who gave up on his iPhone waiting for AT&T to fix the reception in his apartment. I wonder if he ever *told* AT&T about his reception problems. To seal the deal, he's probably an officer in S.N.A.F.U. (an anti-mobile phone antenna NGO), too...

That is all the evidence anyone could need. It proves that Android buyers are not very sharp.

So what you are saying is, that in a country with zero Apple stores, all the stores that sell Apple stuff are idiots? Maybe you should notify Apple of this issue so they can solve this issue at once!!!

Steve loves his users enough that he built 300 stores for us. He did it for our convenience and because he wanted Apple to give stuff to its customers. I'm not sure that he can do it for the whole world. Not even Steve can save the whole world.

Apple stopped caring about marketshare a long time ago. They measure success by profit.
.

Exactly correct. They make a LOT more money from each item sold than any other hardware manufacturer. Their profits per customer are the envy of the industry.

When we buy Apple products, we are helping Steve to bring us better stuff, and the more we pay, the faster and better it happens.

We don't care if anybody else buys this stuff - as consumers, all we care about is that Apple continues to make enough large profits, so we buy their stuff, and we can continue to buy better and better Apple stuff.

Low quality hardware? What world are you living in? The Evo, Incredible, Droid X and Droid 2 can match the iPhone and in many cases beat it hardware wise. My Evo running 2.2 is far faster then the iPhone and that can not be debated.

If anyone needs the history lesson, the combo that won the desktop was 1 ) cheap commodity hardware, 2) Windows 3.1, and 3) DOOM.
Dishonorable mention goes to Windows 95 and IE...

Of course DOOM wasn't released until late 1993, and that was as DOS shareware. Microsoft already had ridiculous marketshare before DOOM came out. They cleared 90% early in 1993. While DOOM being free certainly helped spread it across PC gaming, a Mac version was released in late 1994.

The DOS/Windows world had been conquered long before DOOM tho, thanks to business software and people buying what they used at work. The gaming market is a much smaller portion of the pc market and always has been.